Research
Research has fueled our work since the very beginning. From developing the world’s first home dialysis program to introducing revolutionary new treatments, our progress is rooted in the pioneering work of doctors and scientists.
Director Dr. Ian de Boer
Dr. Ian de Boer became Director of the KRI in May 2022, becoming the KRI’s second leader in its history following the departure of founding Director Dr. Jonathan Himmelfarb. Dr. de Boer has been in the role of KRI Associate Director since 2016 and is a highly acclaimed researcher for his expertise in diabetic kidney disease and vitamin D metabolism. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Ian went to Oregon Health Sciences University and did his residency at University of California San Francisco.
Dr. Ian de Boer, director of the Kidney Research Institute.
Why is kidney research so important?
Thirty million adult Americans have kidney disease. That’s more than one in ten. About 468,000 of them are on dialysis. If current trends continue, there will be more than 1.25 million patients with kidney failure in the U.S. in 2030.
After one year of treatment, people on dialysis have a 15 to 20 percent mortality rate. After five years on dialysis, their survival rate is under 50%. Those on dialysis are hospitalized on average twice per year, and this rate has not changed over time. We need to improve dialysis and that’s why we are dedicating $15 million over five years to the Center for Dialysis Innovation.
For reasons we don’t fully understand, cardiovascular disease is more frequent in people with chronic kidney disease. Most chronic kidney disease patients will not need to go on dialysis, because they are more likely to die from vascular disease first. We have no proven current therapies to lower cardiovascular risk in chronic kidney disease patients.
Compared to other serious health challenges, kidney disease has had the lowest number of randomized clinical trials over the past 35 years.